


Nine - Utah

by GrumpyJenn



Series: River and the Doctors [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode: s01e06 Dalek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-22
Updated: 2012-10-22
Packaged: 2017-11-16 19:25:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/543002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyJenn/pseuds/GrumpyJenn





	Nine - Utah

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nightsky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightsky/gifts).



“Democrat, Sir,” said River Song.

Although nobody here and now knew she was River Song. Or Melody Pond. They thought she was Van Statten’s assistant, Diana Goddard. She snapped her attention back to the people around her.

“Because they’re so funny, Sir?” she said in a mildly enquiring tone. Her American accent wasn’t too bad, she thought, and she was pretty sure the perception filter could take care of anything that didn’t sound right. Since she was using the real Ms Goddard as a model, there should be plenty of processing power for it.

River _loathed_ Van Statten. She was all for the capture - or preferably the death - of Daleks, but this sad excuse for a man just wanted to keep it as a curiosity, and wanted to keep the Doctor the same way. He might even feel the same way about Diana; it was hard to say based on his reactions to her. He was just a... a tiny and insignificant person, dragging down the things he couldn’t understand.

This was a very bad day for the Doctor; he was terrified of and filled with rage at the Dalek, furious at and disgusted by Van Statten, and more than anything he was almost incoherent with worry for Rose. Add a little torture by Van Statten to see what made the Doctor tick and... well, he and Rose were very, _very_ lucky they had made it out alive. And River had to watch, because if she acted out of character for this Goddard woman, she could rewrite history.

River had always hated and feared the Daleks herself, not the least because of the terrible things they had done to the Doctor. But this one, contaminated - as it seemed to think - by Rose’s humanity... she almost felt pity for it. Certainly Rose herself did.

And at the end of the day, when the Dalek suicided, River got a certain petty satisfaction out of arranging a coup. Van Statten would never hurt anyone - or even any _thing_ \- ever again, not after he was mind-wiped and homeless somewhere in a city starting with the letter S.

\--/--

“River, are you sure this is good for you? I don’t like it.” The Doctor fretted over River; she looked so _tired_ , and he knew where she had gone. And Utah, well... neither of them liked Utah after... it couldn’t have been pleasant for her.

“I don’t know, Sweetie,” said River, taking off the bio-dampener earrings and dropping them into a jewellery box in their room. “But it... I have to know you in all your incarnations, my love. At least meet you, talk with you. I need, I...”

“Not one line, River, promise me. _Promise_ me.”

“Not one line, Sweetie. I promise.”


End file.
